The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-16
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Some Features of the Gas Trust.


600. to secure leases. dig the necessary wells
end bring rwelve-inch pipe line to the corpora
ton limits OF the city from the present known
gas fields II any prospecting has to be done.
and any mistakes are made much larger sum
will be required. It is known that TO give the
entire town or the major portion of it gas, will
require the piping Of oyer four hundred miles
of streets. and that this alone will cost $1,000
000 The subscriptions to the Trust Gas Com
pany have been made by parties living all along
this four hundred miles of streets. with
the implied understanding that thsy would
De supplied with gas by this company. and that
within very short time, and each equally with
any other. Now, how many of them going
to realize their expectations Not one-twenti-
eth OF them. Or is il proposed raise other
money than the $500 900 of subscriptions. and.
il So howl By additional subscriptions, aid
from the city, by bond and mortgage. or howl Il
have heard 1t suggested that the city could
loan her credit she did in the case of the
Belt railroad. Does not the Constitution of the
State limit indebtedness of cities to per cent
OF their tax duplicates, and was not this amend
ment TO the Constitution adopted after the city
gave her aid to the Belt roadl I be-
ssss It the is .rn now adnss'a BY .sa
scheme is Illegal but it is urged that when the
Legislature meets thus will be cured, and 1t
mas been suggested that at the time this would
be done, that the limit of yearly taxes. which is
only legislative enactment, could be taken off.
When this is done, the city could render the
company aid by doubling the yearly taxes.
Would the people submit to this? Then what
other resourceis there for raising the money ex-
cept by additional subscriptions. by loans2 Is
it possible to raise more money by subscriptions
than the $500, 900. The canvassers say no. Then
the only resource left is bonds and mortgages.
Now, Mr. Subscriber, do you want your stock
and all it represents covered over with a mort
gage with fair probability of having it entirely
wiped out by foreclosure of the mortgage in
the hands of some money sharks? Or. will you
be willing TO have your taxation increased when
AL n n M yak GAS eli ,nfv
turn on the gas then the trust might be sue
cess-but when popular subscription ends and
falls short of fun accomplishment, then whence
comes the balance OF the money needed to make
available that already expended. The cheapest
gas for every body is what the people of In
dianapos want, but they may very properlyfear
that in the belly and legs Of this Trojan horse
there IS an enemy concealed. Have the ;,rin-
cipal aders and movers of the gas trust ever
demonstrated by act or. deed their great love
for the poor. or given great aid
to practical charityl Where has Mr. Claypool
or Ex-Governor Porter, given time money to
public charity. for the amelioration of the
condition of the poorlu Mr.. Claypool has been
banker and money catherer. Mr. Porter has
been rich mans favorite and an Office holder
all bis life. Are these men known great phi
lauthropsts. that their names at the head of a
popular movement should absolutely prevent
anyb body from entertaining or expressing an ad-
verse opinion upon its utopan features2 The
people will look IN vain for large subscription
TO the gas trust of which they trustees.
The world is not gift enterprise. People work
interest
it that il gets for its ctizens the best and great
est results in natural gas, and in everything
else.
Has it ever occurred to these gentlemen who
posing before the people public ben
efactors and the poor mans friends that their
positions might become anything but enyiablel
Suppose large part of these subscribers not
furnished with gas-and they will not be, as
surely as the sun will rise tomorrow morning
Have such representations been made to them
to induce them subscribe will lead then,
Ia
when their money is gone and 9th err people have
gas and they none2 Suppose the boom does not
estate men2 Should a cyclone come along IN
the shape of foreclosed mortgage will there
be any mourners2 The writer would not be
trustee director for all the profits of all the
gas companies which may finally land in our
streets. ENQUIRER.
Change Over the Spirit of the Trust
To the Editor of the Indianapolis JournRc
The last week has worked great change in
the management Of the Consumers Trust Com
pany. week ago it was a great philan thropic
movement upon the part Of generous and good
capitalists who were willing to sacrifice them
selves for the public good by becoming the man
ayers of all the money that the public could be
induced to place in their hands, to the end that
cheap gas should be furnished to the city for
all time. And, in order that one should say
that there was even chance for losssin the in
vestment. the great trust feature and the pro-
vision that gas should be furnished at ordinance
rates heralded far and wide Ward meet
ings were held, and the trustees and others
took the stump and made speeches to induce
the widow to invest her pension money and
the laboriDg man to put in his earnings to
swell the fund. It high treason for any
person newspaper to even express doubt as
to the advsability or legality of the plan. But
this week ma rk the change. After the su bscrip-
tions have been forced to the highest point. and
the widow and laborng have signed con-
tracts for stock. Mr. English and Mr.. Claypool,
forward and tell us that. of course the trust
part of the scheme is of no force; that the stock
holders stand the same as those of other corpo-
rations and that it Is right and proper that it
should be so; that they understood it all the
time and had advice to that effect long before
the question was raised in the public press.
What does this mean? Are TO understand
that this patent-rght trust arrangement and
the flourish of trumpets that attended the APP
pointment of Governor Porter, General Morris
and others, as trustees, was simply device to
catch gudgeonsl Did Governor Porter and
the other trustees. directors and gentlemen, who
made such long and earnest appeals for sub
scriptions, assuring every one that this
absolutely safe investment, free from all the
ordinary dangers of stock Investments. under
stand this matter as Mr.. English does2 Whether
they did not, thing is certain, that no
person who subscribed for stock believing
and relying upon those represen tations is under
any moral or legal obligation to pay assess
ment upon it. We want natural gas and all the
companies we can get to bring it here. There
is plenty of room In our city for all of them If
there is a genuine philanthropic revival going on
in our midst, and these capitalists are in earn
est about desiring to invest their money for the
good of the city, let them organize, put sufficient
of their money into q company, pipe gas to the
city and furnish it at ordinance rates less. If
they do, the people will all find IL out, and the
conversion of Saul of Tarsus will pale into in
significance beside OF it. FAIRPLAY.
An Enter Newspaper Writer